Beowulf
Old English heroic epic of the warrior Beowulf and his three great battles, the founding work of English literature.
Core Characteristics
- Survives in a single manuscript around the year 1000; the poem itself is older, of disputed date.
- Three acts: Grendel, Grendel's mother, and fifty years on, the fire-drake.
- Set in Scandinavia and composed in a Christian age looking back at its pagan heroic past.
Related Concepts & Sources
European, Heroic Virtue, Dragon
Wikidata Authority Record
- Canonical Label
- Beowulf
- Verified Description
- Old English heroic epic poem
Identified as: Old English heroic epic poem. Source: Wikidata Q48328.
Classified As